My guest for this episode is Wendy Besmann, the founder and creative content director of the Get There Project, which is aimed at helping families raising differently wired kids be more informed and confident in mapping out a path for the challenges, especially those involving the systems we’re often up against. The mother of a son with autism and bipolar disorder, Wendy is going to share with us her Family Road Map, which is a step-by-step guide for how families raising differently wired children can more successfully navigate health, insurance, and education systems. Her approach helps parents of atypical children with many different kinds of needs, especially in situations where clear community support may not be readily defined.
In addition to founding the Get There Project, Wendy is behind Team Up for Families, an advocacy and training organization for families living with behavioral, developmental, and other special health needs. She has also written several books, including Family Road Map, Team Up for Your Child, and Young Adult Road Map.
About Wendy: Wendy Besmann is the mother of a son with autism and bipolar disorder. She is the author of Family Road Map: A Step-By-Step Guide to Navigating Health, Education, and Insurance Systems for Families with Special Needs, Team Up for Your Child: A Step-By-Step Guide to Working Smarter with Doctors, Schools, Insurers and Agencies, and (with Kimberly Douglass, PhD) Young Adult Road Map: A Step-By-Step Guide to Wellness, Independent Living, and Transition Services for People in Their Teens and Twenties. She founded Get There Project’s primary partner Team Up for Families, an advocacy and training organization for families living with behavioral, developmental, and other special health needs.
THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
- The five steps in the Guiding Star “road map”—a tool for strategic thinking about how to work through problems
- Why knowing what you need in any situation or interaction with an organization or system is critical
- How parents can understand their “role” in meetings and appointments, and why it’s important
- Strategies for applying the five steps to any challenging situations happening with your differently wired child in relation to schools, therapies, insurance companies, and more
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
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